Friday, May 11, 2012

05/11/2012
Meralco files plea for 2013 rate hike,” newspapers announced this
week. Former Misamis Oriental Gov. Homobono Adaza and Jojo Borja of
Iligan Light and Power updated me on this latest attempt of the Energy
Regulatory Commission (ERC) to pull a fast one on power consumers. This
refers to the case filed against the Maximum Allowable Price (MAP)
application of Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) before the ERC by
octogenarian accountant and consumer advocate Mang Naro Lualhati — a
case that is now filled with several anomalies.

First, the notice
for the May 7 ERC hearing arrived anomalously late, at lawyer Adaza’s
residence on the Sunday afternoon just before Monday. Thus, Adaza had to
call Borja to fly from Bukidnon, where the latter had just alighted,
back to Cagayan de Oro and then Manila overnight to catch the next day’s
event.

At the ERC hearing, only a “hearing officer” presided.
Upon arriving and entering his appearance, Adaza asked the “hearing
officer” if he was “the” hearing officer. It turned out that the guy was
only a clerk of court. Only after being informed that Adaza was there
did the chairman of the ERC, Zenaida Ducut, suddenly decide to appear
and preside — a basic legal requirement that has never been met in all
past ERC hearings participated in collectively or separately by our
advocacy groups.

Since the occasion was being used to formally
accept so-called evidence that will buttress Meralco’s MAP petition, it
was an evidentiary hearing that, according Adaza, was illegal since Jojo
Borja also had a pending petition at the Court of Appeals questioning
the continuation of the proceedings until prejudicial questions were
resolved.

Adaza and Borja would have missed the ERC hearing, with
Meralco already laughing all the way to the bank, if the obviously and
deliberately late arrival of the notice wasn’t noted that Sunday. Adaza
no longer made an issue of it as he had already averted the scheme.
Still, he found the order for the hearing anomalous, as it was merely
signed “for the ERC commissioners,” even when the law states that such
orders need to be signed by all commissioners — an anomaly regularly
committed by the ERC, but this time, protested by Adaza — compelling
the entire proceeding to be delayed for another five days.

As
such, five million Meralco customers got a reprieve, thanks to Adaza,
Borja and Lualhati (who wasn’t able to attend due to physical
infirmities).

Since
2003, Meralco and ERC have been having their way in running rings
around, despite roadblocks placed by the Puno Supreme Court and the
Commission on Audit. This time, they have finally met the determined
team that will stop them.

When BS Aquino III stepped into
Malacañang, the power oligarchs’ noose tightened even more around the
Supreme Court with the appointment of BS Aquino III’s justices,
including Justice Lourdes Sereno who has decided in favor of Meralco in
the most crucial issue of rate increases and nitpicks on consumer
protectionists.

Meanwhile, on the postponed Joint Congressional
Power Commission (JCPC) meet that was supposed to be jointly chaired by
Sen. Serge Osmeña and Rep. Dina Abad (who was conveniently out-of-town
last April to avoid its convening), there is yet no official word as to
when the shelved hearing is to be re-scheduled.
The latest reports
from Mindanao say the power crisis there is getting worse. Brownouts
are getting longer. The cause is supposedly the rehabilitation work
being done at the Agus-Pulangi, which energy officials, particularly
Department of Energy Secretary Rene Almendras, left undone for two years
of the BS Aquino III government, despite calls from Mindanaoans in 2010
that it was desperately needed.

Clearly, the negligence was
deliberate, as the delay of the rehabilitation directly led to the power
shortfalls that created the power crisis there this season.

In
the wake of Mindanao’s electricity woes, government was compelled to
call for a summit and schedule a convening of the JCPC. Amazingly,
Mindanaoans were even blamed for this by PeNoy while the JCPC was
indefinitely postponed due to a lack of quorum — this, as government
losses due to the crisis have already reached P15 billion, with
Mindanao’s own economy experiencing losses of up to P60 billion.

The
attitude and misdeeds of all those involved in the Philippine energy
sector, private power companies and the agents they get appointed to
government who are horrendously corrupt and rotten — promoting
oligarchs’ interests and their own “golden parachutes” — constitute a
clear betrayal of the people.
How these people continue to hold on
to their posts can only be explained by the complicity of the top
appointing power and the corruption of money-based elections of this
country.

In all sectors of the Philippine power elite, such
betrayal of duty and rot is evident, as when the Senate cavalierly
dismisses the plea to inhibit compromised judges; or when media
practitioners irresponsibly report false information; or when police
officials get involved in the murder of protected state witnesses, ad
nausea.
(Tune in to 1098AM, dwAD, Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon,
Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m.; watch Destiny Cable GNN’s HTL edition of
Talk News TV, Saturdays, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11:15 p.m., this
May 12 on “Power, Manila, and Mindanao” with Bono Adaza, Al Tillah and
Jojo Borja; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles
plus TV and radio archives)

05/11/2012
It is amazing how much spin the prosecution propagandists put into impeachment trial developments.

But they really should realize that spins no longer serve the purpose when they become outright lies.

The
prosecution is not likely to admit it, but the fact that the Chief
Justice, Renato Corona, agreed to testify at his trial, after the
testimonies from several of his accusers, namely Ombudsman Conchita
Carpio-Morales Riza Hontiveros, Walden Bello and Harvey Keh, to name a
few, will shatter its case against Corona.

This is the reason one
of the prosecution spinners, Neri Colmenares, questioned why these
individuals served subpoenae by the Senate court should be made to
testify, claiming that this move by the defense is yet another delaying
tactic..... MORE

The US is planning to spend $4 billion to upgrade NATO’s Western
Eruopean nuclear arsenal. The “unnecessary and expensive” initiative is
likely to stir new animosity with Russia, a report says.

­The alliance is preparing to replace “dumb” free-fall nuclear bombs
with new generation of precision-guided nuclear gravity bombs, reveals a
report by the European Leaders Network (ELN), a political think tank.
The new bombs will also require new delivery aircraft, the Lockheed
Martin F-35, each costing $100 million.

The discovery in a Guatemala jungle of a previously unknown version
of the Mayan calendar offers humankind a ray of hope: the world is not
going to end on December 21, 2012 and could most probably last for
another billion years – or more.

­The ancient inscription is estimated to be the oldest Mayan almanac
found so far. It dates back some 1,200 years, at least 600 years older
than previous examples. In many ways, however, the new calendar
corresponds with others.

The initial results of its study have
been published in Science magazine by experts from Boston University.
They say the calendar precisely describes solar and lunar cycles, as
well as the motion of the brightest stars. Most probably it was used to
conduct ceremonies and rituals, synchronized with the positions of
celestial bodies..... MORE

05/11/2012
Just as I was about to do the second part of “On actors as National
Artists, and Dolphy,” everything and anything to do the matter of Tulfo
vs Santiago/Barretto at the NAIA Terminal 3 hit the fan Monday this
week.

That it was headline news at the Philippine Daily Inquirer
wasn’t surprising, for the aggrieved Mon Tulfo had been a long time
columnist of the paper. That GMA Network’s 24 Oras, Saksi and Unang
Hirit not only gave it extensive coverage but more than hinted the
aggrieved Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto were not to blame was
also no surprise, for husband and wife are regular talents of its soap
opera department. That ABC-TV’s news and public affairs programs
especially T3 were also on it was expected, as after all, wouldn’t the
aggrieved Erwin, Raffy and Ben rush to defend their kapatid?

I
tell you, lahat sila, aggrieved, and, hey Raymart and Claudine are said
to be planning to sue Tulfo for “child abuse,” for his “acts” that
allegedly “traumatized” their two young kids who were in the airport
with them, when the incident took place..... MORE

05/11/2012
The electoral sabotage case that was slapped by the Comelec against
the former leader suffered another setback as another witness appeared to
have blinked, after admitting before the Pasay Regional Trial Court
Thursday that she was not certain whether the voting results she had
tabulated were different from those actually canvassed.

This as several hearings and more than six witnesses presented,
the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to link former president,
incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo to the crime of electoral
sabotage.

At least four hearings had already been conducted on the
bail petitions filed by Arroyo, her co-accused former Maguindanao Gov.
Andal Ampatuan and former provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol
while some six witnesses had already been presented but neither one
pointed to any participation of the former president on the crime
charged..... MORE

05/11/2012
BEIJING — China is suspending some tourism to the Philippines due to a
tense territorial row between the two nations that has prompted state
media to raise the possibility of war and growing anti-Chinese sentiment
in Manila.

Chinese tour agencies, including Beijing’s biggest
travel agency China International Tour Service (CITS), cited safety
concerns for the suspension, just two days after Beijing said it was
ready for “any escalation” in the row with Manila.

The month-long
flare-up is one of the most high-profile incidents for years between the
two countries over their competing territorial claims to parts of the
South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas
deposits..... MORE

Employees
of the city government complaining about their delayed salaries and
allowances greeted former President Joseph Estrada when he went to City
Hall yesterday to obtain his Community Tax Certificate or cedula prior
to filing his certificate of registration with the Commission on
Elections as a voter of the City of Manila to comply with requirements
on his planned bid to become the next Manila Mayor in next year
elections.

The other day, Estrada formally announced that he is throwing his hat into the mayoralty race in Manila.

“I’m
very particular with procedures. I want everything to be in order so I
made the effort to go to City Hall and file my cedula myself,” Estrada
said..... MORE

05/11/2012
The militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)
yesterday said the Supreme Court (SC) ruling provided President Aquino’s
family, the Cojuangco-Aquinos of Tarlac, the opportunity to maneuver
and maintain control over the more than 6,000 hectares Hacienda Luisita.

KMP
deputy secretary general Randall Echanis said that “upon scrutiny of
the decision, the Supreme Court has given the Cojuangcos the opportunity
to further derail and even evade land distribution.

“The
valuation issue alone on Hacienda Luisita could drag for years. It may
even outlive the bogus Carper and even the Aquino regime. This case
might even go back to the Supreme Court,” said Echanis..... MORE

CJ’s wife merely exercised right on libel case — counsel

05/11/2012
Branding as “downright malicious” the allegations of being insensitive
to a deceased relative after the court awarded Cristina Corona
compensation in a libel case she won against her uncle, one of the
Corona’s lawyers said the wife of Chief Justice Renato Corona was merely
exercising her rights.

“She just exercised her rights. That is
the legal course of action of anyone whose reputation is intentionally
damaged. She was the aggrieved party in this case and (she) did not go
beyond the bounds of the law,” defense spokesman lawyer Tranquil
Salvador III said on the various media commentaries that sprang out on
the sidelines of Day 36 of the impeachment trial.

During Tuesday’s
hearing, Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC RTC) Branch 216 clerk of
court Lucita Masangkay-Cristi took the witness stand and testified that
the lower court ordered the late Jose Maria Basa III, Raymunda Basa, et
al to pay Mrs. Corona P500,000 as damages for the two counts of libel
the latter filed and won..... MORE

05/11/2012
Government lawyers have upheld the legality of diplomatic immunity
granted by the government to the Panamanian accused of raping a
19-year-old girl.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said
the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was merely complying with the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations when it issued certification
for immunity that led to the release from detention of Erick Bairnals
Schcks.

“The DFA is the agency with primary competence or
authority on the matter. The immunity from criminal jurisdiction
accorded to Mr. Schcks under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations was indeed valid,” she told reporters in a chance interview..... MORE

House
Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte yesterday expressed disgust over the
killing of a witness under the protection of the government through the
Witness Protection Program (WPP), saying a congressional inquiry into
the controversy should be initiated by the appropriate legislative
committee.

Belmonte said the murder of state witness Alfred
“Bading” Mendiola and two other men is “something worth looking into as
it raises serious problems in the way government is securing vital
witnesses against the accused.

Mendiola was the government witness
who had positively identified alleged carjacking syndicate kingpins
Roger and Raymond Dominguez as the masterminds in the kidnapping and
murder of car dealer Venson Evangelista last year..... MORE